I hate listening to people take shots at Cam Newton. Of course everyone has an opinion but to do so with rancor has become a disturbing trend by fans over the last few years. Lets dissect form a football perspective…Truth of the matter is he depended on throwing low trajectory balls…drilling it between zoned defenders. He never accurately threw the array of touch passes to get over linebackers and under the over coverage enough to “throw receivers open”. 
He was always in “The Pistol” and could have benefitted from learning a series of “West Coast” style plays…steps with route combination timing. Would have benefitted greatly to his maturation in how he could play today with not as strong an arm. He would still be at a starter level had that been honed in and taught.
Go back and look at his interceptions even when he was playing great… defenders would undercut his throws. You can’t gun the ball in on every play. This is the number one reason he hasnt evolved like Randall Cunningham once he got older. 1989 Randall was way different then 1998 Randall leading the 15-1 Vikings to an NFL record 556 points.
This is the true “X’s” & “O’s” reason Cam is no longer a starter
Now being a Miami Hurricane fan I shouldn’t be turned off by the flash he displayed on and off the field yet I was. I didn’t think the game was as important to him as being a winner. That was my initial thought of Deion. The comparisons to Bo Jackson for playing both baseball and football were not accurate. Bo was hit on every play being a runner compared to a cornerback who can go a whole game without being hit. So went my opinion.
In 1990 Rice scored 5TDs against Atlanta CB Charles Dimry in a game and Deion vowed that wouldn’t happen to him. This started a series beginning in 1991 where Jerry Rice would battle tooth and nail with Sanders. Deion shut Rice down in both games in 1991, which led to Atlanta wresting the NFC West division title from San Francisco that year. You had to notice that Sanders was the spirit of that team and I started to become a fan. Yet this paled in comparison to the performance that turned me around completely.
Just like a little brother who perks up playing sports when he discovers his big brother and dad are watching, Atlanta completely changed their temperament with his arrival. He came in and brought a moxie that had been missing. He was smothering Lawrence Dawsey of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a huge fight broke out after a punt return where Deion was hit late. You saw the fight and the bench cleared to protect their best player and from that point on, the team that had been getting laughed at galvanized behind his brazen spirit.
We have witnessed one of the NFL’s most complete roster over the last 5 years fail to win the Super Bowl due to a short circuit at the quarterback position. Even the last sojourn with 3rd stringer Brock Purdy was another set back. While yes he filled in admirably and played well enough to compete for the starting job, we saw the cracks in his play that led to him lasting until the 7th round in the playoffs.
Please keep in mind Purdy will undergo surgery Feb. 22 for the torn ligament in his elbow. Keep in mind a similar hit altered Bernie Kosar’s ability to throw when he suffered a similar hit and injury in the ’88 opener when he was hit by Lloyd Burruss. Pinning the upper arm right when each were beginning their throwing motion.
It was one of the few times he had the same offense and offensive coordinator during his career and he was growing. We’ll get back to what his injury meant for the franchise in full but this illustrates what Carr can do with the right pieces around him. Well we watched the 49ers nearly reach Super Bowl champion status over the last 4 years but were deficient at quarterback. GM John Lynch can wait to see if Trey Lance or a Brock Purdy can come back from injury and hope they’re adequate enough.
Reddick came screaming down the stretch with 6 of his sacks in the final 4 games. Two of these were losses as the Eagles tried desperately to hold on to homefield advantage waiting for Jalen Hurts to get back from injury. He was named NFC Defensive Player of the Month in December for his efforts and came when Philadelphia needed him most.
Then he took out 49er backup Josh Johnson and the Eagles knew they were headed to the desert to see The Chancellor of Football and play Super Bowl LVII. Two sacks and knocked out two quarterbacks in a championship game?? He completely wreaked havoc! That is how you put the exclamation mark on becoming 2022’s Taylor Blitz Defensive Player of the Year.
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